Following approval of the High Court, certain pension annuities were transferred to Guardian Assurance Limited (Guardian) on 30 September 2013.
Guardian have taken over responsibility for the transferred policies, including making annuity payments to transferred policyholders.
If your policy was included in the transfer, we will have written to you in June and July 2013 to let you know.
Guardian will write to transferred policyholders to confirm the contact telephone number and address for written enquiries. For more information about Guardian, please see their website www.guardianfs.co.uk.
More information
During June and July 2013, the following information was sent to policyholders whose annuities were included in the transfer.
Letter for Phoenix Life Limited policyholders (sample)
Letter for Phoenix Life Assurance Limited policyholders (sample)
Pension annuity transfer scheme - Policyholder guide
This guide includes a summary of the report from the Independent Expert who was appointed to review the transfer, along with a summary of the terms of the transfer scheme itself.
Pension annuity transfer scheme – Your questions answere
We also prepared the following guide for non-transferring policyholders.
Pension annuity transfer scheme - A guide for non-transferring policyholders
Here is some additional information relating to the transfer that you may find useful.
Report from the Independent Expert – April 2013
Supplementary report from the Independent Expert – September 2013
Reports prepared by an Independent Expert (David Hare of Deloitte MCS Limited) which considered the effect of the transfer on policyholders. His appointment was approved by our Regulators (the Financial Conduct Authority and the Prudential Regulation Authority. In April 2013, these bodies took over all of the responsibilities of the Financial Services Authority).
The supplementary report sets out the Independent Expert’s view as to whether it remained appropriate to proceed with the transfer, taking into account the impact of developments since his first report in April 2013 and in light of the financial position of all the companies involved in the transfer at 30 June 2013. The supplementary report should be read in conjunction with the Independent Expert’s April 2013 report.
Full Scheme document – as approved in September 2013
The legal document setting out the terms of the transfer, which the High Court approved on 12 September 2013.
Actuarial reports
Report from the AFH of Phoenix Life Limited – April 2013
Report from the AFH of Phoenix Life Assurance Limited – April 2013
Supplementary report from the AFH of Phoenix Life Limited – September 2013
Supplementary report from the AFH of Phoenix Life Assurance Limited – September 2013
An Actuarial Function Holder (AFH) is an actuary who has been appointed by an insurer to provide guidance to the Board on actuarial matters. The AFHs of the companies involved in the proposed transfer prepared reports regarding the impact of the transfer on policyholders.
The supplementary reports from the AFHs of Phoenix Life Limited and Phoenix Life Assurance Limited, produced in September 2013, set out their respective opinions as to whether it remained appropriate to proceed with the transfer, taking into account the impact of developments since their first reports in April 2013 and in light of the financial position of Phoenix Life Limited, Phoenix Life Assurance Limited and Guardian at 30 June 2013. The supplementary reports should be read in conjunction with the April 2013 reports.
Formal notice of our application to the High Court to approve the transfer
This notice was published in the press from 11 July 2013.